Working Platform Safety

Consensus Deep Foundation Industry Position on Working Platforms for Foundation Construction and Related Equipment in the United States of America and Canada

The ADSC-IAFD, the International Association of Foundation Drilling, is a United States-based industry organization for deep foundation construction subcontractors specializing in drilled shafts, anchored earth retention, and micropiles. POCA, the Pile Driving Contractors Association, is an international association that exclusively represents the driven pile industry. DFI, Deep Foundations Institute, is an international, multi-disciplined professional organization of individuals and corporations assembled to find common ground and create a consensus voice for continual advancement in the deep foundations industry. Together these associations represent the heart of the foundation construction industry in the U.S. A primary component of the vision of these organizations includes safety and quality being held at their highest value. As such, these associations support the development and adoption of an established policy for the evaluation of working platforms for construction equipment. Furthermore, the responsibility for providing a safe working platform should be acknowledged by controlling entities (general contractors, construction managers, and owners) as being an integral cost for every project. Specialty subcontractors should not be left with the unknown risk and cost of creating safe working platforms without due consideration. The goal is to reduce the risk that proper evaluation and preparation may not occur and consequently corresponding safety risks could increase. To effect widespread implementation of suitable procedures, the ADSC-IAFD, POCA, and DFI resolve the following:

  • That a typical analysis methodology has neither been established nor codified in the United States. At present, the ADSC-IAFD, POCA, and DFI will support the general guidelines used in United Kingdom, as outlined in “BRE 470 Working platforms for tracked plant: good practice guide to the design, installation, maintenance and repair of ground-supported working platforms” as the general standard of practice. Assignments of responsibility outlined in the document that are specific to British law and regulatory bodies will not be included in this adoption of practice. We recognize that the design of working platforms and site stability for foundation construction equipment is a geotechnical design process and shall be carried out by competent persons or firms in that civil engineering area of specialization.
  • That the mechanism for ensuring safe working platforms as an established policy lies in three areas: recognition of the need for proper analysis and preparation of working platforms by controlling entities and acknowledgement of responsibility for such tasks; common use of appropriate contract language for prime contracts and subcontracts; and for the present, informal enforcement through industry consensus.
  • That ongoing enforcement of OSHA standards for cranes (CFR 1926.1401 and 1926.1402 (all parts)) and adherence to existing ANSI Standards (A10.23-2014 for drilled shafts and A1019-2017 for pile installation and extraction) will support and reinforce facilitation of safe working platform evaluation and implementation for all specialty construction equipment.

Download the Position Statement here.